Reed Richards (Earth-616)/Expanded History/Year Seven
Go Back to Year Six __TOC__ Secret Wars II (Continued) Reed later met with the Illuminati on the Moon where Professor X was convinced that the Beyonder was a Mutant/Inhuman hybrid. Detecting the Beyonder elsewhere in the solar system, the Illuminati confronted him in a strange recreation of New York City the Beyonder brought into existence. There the Beyonder seemingly confirmed Professor X's assertions and appeared to obey when Black Bolt demanded he stop his mischief. Satisfied, the Illuminati returned to Earth. However, this assertion has since been proven false, and the Beyonder returned to Earth shortly thereafter. This story refutes other origins regarding the Beyonder, specifically which states that the Beyonder himself was the product of the Beyonders attempts to create Cosmic Cubes being interrupted when the Molecule Man gained his powers circa . However, this has also further questionable since the revelation in stating that the Beyonders intentionally created the Molecule Man to be a "time bomb" to destroy the universe. The concept that the Beyonder is somehow an Inhuman/Mutant hybrid is also improbable since mutants exposed to Terrigenesis are subject to painful mutations or death (as seen in - ) and even sterilization as seen in . Later when She-Hulk was stopping sentient Cockroaches from taking over SHIELD, she was exposed to a heavy dose of radiation. Reed later examined her and revealed that due to this exposure to radiation, She-Hulk lost her ability to change back into her human form, news that She-Hulk was apparently unphased by. However, this was only at the direction of psychologist Doc Samson when Reed couldn't find any physical reason, who believed her inability to change form was psychological. Genetic Bomb Reed then began the construction of their new headquarters located at the site of the former Baxter Building. Not long after this the team were lured into a trap by some Skrulls posing as the Elan known as the Infant Terrible, as part of a plot by an enterprising Skrull warlord to kill the Fantastic Four. The group thwarted this plan and stumbled upon yet another plot by two Skrulls Zabyk and Myrn to detonate a Genetic Bomb that would strip the Skrulls of their shape-shifting abilities. Even with the assistance of the Avengers, the Fantastic Four were unable to stop the bomb from being set off. After returning to Earth, Reed and the rest of the Fantastic Four were part of a group of heroes who tracked down and attacked the Beyonder. However because he was going through a deep depression the Beyonder did not fight back, prompting the heroes to stop their attack and let him go. When the Beyonder turned around and attempted to become a "champion of life", Mister Fantastic and Captain America visited his new headquarters in Sparta, Illinois, to warn him against solving all the world's problems. Finding Jean Grey Returning to Avengers Mansion, the Fantastic Four learned how the Avengers recovered a strange cocoon from the bottom of Jamaica Bay. Reed put his knowledge to work opening it, revealing the X-Man known as Marvel Girl. They soon learned that she had been in a state of suspended animation for approximately three years after she was replaced by the Phoenix Force while trying to return the X-Men home from a mission in space. This happened behind the scenes circa . The three year time frame is per the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616. Per this scale X-Men #101 (published in 1976) falls under "year four" of Marvel time while was published in 1985 part of "year seven" of Marvel time. 7 - 4 = 3 With Jean Grey's memories recovered, Reed attempted to contact her old colleague the Beast who was still a part of the Defenders. When he got in touch with the Beast it was just after the Defenders disbanded, but with the Fantastic Four's help Jean was reunited with the her old X-Men alumni and they formed a new group called X-Factor. Reed and Sue were later called in for a meeting with Captain America who was asking if they had a right to assist Nighthawk of Earth-712 in stopping the Squadron Supreme's Utopia Project. Although Reed insisted that this was not their affair, Captain America decided to assist Nighthawk anyway. The Squadron Supreme's Utopia Program is chronicled in - . With the Beyonder still a concerning problem, Reed began using the Avengers resources to build devices to try and track him. Doctor Doom Lives! Suspecting that Doctor Doom might still be alive, Reed began building a device to try and track his brain waves. This proved to be unnecessary as Doom -- his mind still trapped in the body of Norman McArthur -- attacked the Latverian Embassy dressed as the Invincible Man. This tricked Sue, the Wasp and She-Hulk in helping him storm the building. There Doom turned on them, and revealed how he cheated death at the hands of Tyros with the Ovoid mind-swapping technique. When Reed and Johnny came to rescue the others they too were captured. Doom then held them prisoner as he summoned a being of great power who could restore him to normal. Doom's spell succeeded in summoning the Beyonder before him. Realizing that Doom did not recognize the Beyonder, Reed realized how Doom could have been active during the Secret Wars when he was seemingly dead. Reed then explained to the increasingly volatile Beyonder that the Doom active during the Secret Wars was from the future and that destroying Doom now would cause a time paradox that would destroy them all. Not willing to face possible destruction, the Beyonder then restored Doctor Doom to normal and sent him back in time with no memory of future events so he could play his part in the first Secret Wars. The Fantastic Four then departed before Doom could return to his appointed time. Last Stand of the Beyonder Eventually, Reed and his teammates were summoned by the Phoenix alongside the East and West Coast Avengers, Spider-Man, the Silver Surfer, Alpha Flight, the Heroes for Hire and Cloak and Dagger to stop the Beyonder from destroying all existence. After clashing with the New Mutants the heroes battled the Beyonder who easily beat them back. Deciding to recreate himself as an infant child, but with all his power, the Beyonder hoped to finally understand human desire. However many thought the Beyonder was too powerful to be allowed to live and since he was recreating himself in a mortal body would be easy to kill. Reed was one of those who opposed the idea and tried to hold everyone back. However the Molecule Man fired the killing blow, re-channeling the Beyonder's energies back into the dimension from which they came. The Beyonder wiped the New Mutants from existence in , and resurrected them in . The Beyonder also wasn't killed here as revealed in he continued to maintain sentience in his own dimension. With the Earth having suffered serious damage to much of its surface in the final battle, Reed and the rest of the Fantastic Four worked with the Avengers in attempting to keep the Earth together. Eventually they repaired the damage by having the Silver Surfer boost the Molecule Man's powers to a point where he could repair the planet. Near Annihilation As the construction of their new headquarters continued, Reed and the rest of the Fantastic Four were called up to SHIELD's space station to investigate a strange rip in time and space. Reed realized that it was caused by the destruction of the Negative Zone portal when the Baxter Building was blown up. Venturing out in a space suit with a protective force-field, Reed was then pulled into the Negative Zone. Because of the force field, his body did not undergo the needed conversion from matter to anti-matter, making him explosive to the touch should anything in the Negative Zone breach the force field. Reed was soon taken prisoner by Blastaar and the nearly dead Annihilus. When the rest of the Fantastic Four went after Reed, they wrested the Cosmic Control Rod from Blastaar, but it fell back in the hands of Annihilus, restoring him to full health. Annihilus had the Cosmic Control Rod stolen from him by Blastaar in , as revealed in without its power Annihilus began to decay. In the ensuing battle, Annihilus attempted to travel through the portal to the positive matter universe. Freed, Reed then ventured out in the hopes of making contact with Annihilus, triggering a matter/anti-matter explosion that would eliminate their foe. Despite Sue's protests, Reed ventured out to stop him and seemingly sacrificed himself to do so. In reality, Reed saved himself be ejecting his body out of the space suit at the last minute and was picked up by SHIELD before he could die in the vacuum of space. Reed was alive and well after the Fantastic Four and Nick Fury were freed from the artificial reality created by Joseph Calhoun, an elderly mutant who trapped them in his version of reality. Search for the Thing With plans for the evening, Reed told his teammates to go on without him so he could work on his Sidereal-Displacer a device that should shift him forward and backward in time. Although there were some mishaps along the way, he managed to finish his work and still make the show on time. When news that the Thing was suddenly undergoing another unstable mutation, Reed was in constant touch with the West Coast Avengers who were out looking for him in California. Although the Avengers ceased their search when the Thing told Hawkeye he wanted to be left alone. Reed and the rest of the Fantastic Four were later left in charge of Avengers Mansion while the Avengers went off to deal with the Hulk who was on yet another rampage. Later, Reed was tapped by Power Man and Iron Fist to try and save their young friend Bobby Wright who was suffering from an unknown illness. Despite Reed's best efforts he could not find a cure. Unknown to anyone at the time, and as revealed in , "Bobby Wright" was actually Super-Skrull in disguise. This deception was part of a larger scheme against Iron Fist by his foe Master Khan. When William Evans, Jr.'s mutant powers became dangerous, Iron Man sought out Mister Fantastic for more information about his encounter with the boy. Tragically, despite the best efforts of Iron Man and X-Factor, William was killed while they were trying to get his powers under control. Return to Central City With their headquarters nearing completion the Fantastic Four returned operations there. Reed then began trying to find a way of restoring Kristoff Vernard's personality back to normal. Soon the Fantastic Four were called to the site of Central City which was trapped beneath a massive black dome which also sucked up She-Hulk. Passing through the dome, the Fantastic Four quickly discovered that time moved much faster there and Central City was centuries ahead of the outside world and developed a society that worshiped the Fantastic Four as a religion. Learning that this situation was product of paranoid scientist Harvey Jessup's attempts to protect Central City from a looming nuclear attack, the Fantastic Four were considered heretics and were sentenced to death. With the help of Jessup's daughter Murna, Reed helped convince Harvey that the outside world is safe. With the damage done to Central City, Reed altered Jessup's device to send them forward in time thousands of years into the future where they might fit in. After this experience, Reed decided that it was time that the Fantastic Four go searching for the Thing and ask him to come back to the team. With Franklin increasingly having precognitive dreams, Reed began to express concerns about the return of Franklin's powers to his wife. Later when Franklin was sought out by Kofi Whitemane to save the young heroes known as the Power Pack from the Zn'rx, he left a note for his parents before leaving. The following morning Reed and Sue noticed that Franklin had gone missing and tried to make sens of the crude message left behind. While both teams of Avengers were out seeking out Quicksilver, who had recently gone mad, Reed offers the Fantastic Four's assistance, but Tigra declined the offer. Reed then went back to trying to decipher Franklin's note. Running it through the computers he determined that Franklin's note was referring to the Zn'rx. Realizing the danger Franklin could be in, he mobilized the Fantastic Four on a rescue mission. The Fantastic Four engaged the Zn'rx and through the course of the battle learned from Kofi that Franklin had been returned home to Earth. Reed warned Zn'rx leader Maraud to avoid endangering his son or the Earth again or she would face the Fantastic Four again. The Fantastic Four rushed back to Earth where they found Franklin safely in the care of the Power family. Return of the Thing The Fantastic Four then returned to the west coast where they helped with the reconstruction of Central City as well as search for the Thing who was still missing. They ended up tracking Ben to Subterranea where the Mole Man had cured the Thing's spontaneous mutation, restoring him to his familiar brick-like appearance. The Fantastic Four learned that the Thing had decided to remain in Subterranea where the Mole Man was preparing to raise an island for his Outcasts to live on. However Reed soon determined that such a feat would cause untold damage, and realizing that the Mole Man was becoming delusional, Ben put aside his differences and helped destroy the device. As result the Mole Man and his people seemingly perished as Monster Island sunk in the ocean. Escaping on a life raft, Reed and the others convinced the Thing to return to the Fantastic Four. Although Ben returned to the group, he was moody and taken to wearing a costume that covered his entire body. Ben's mood also bordered on the suicidal when Ben overheard Johnny proposing to "Alicia". When Reed was asked to assist on the government funded Star Watch Program. Getting reading from Earth's sun, Reed inadvertently transported the warring alien brothers Umbra and Jaagur, fusing them into a composite being. The Fantastic Four subdued the fused being and after learning what happened to them, Reed agreed to try and help restore them. However as Reed used a device to split Umbra and Jaagar, the pair's mutual hatred for one another caused them to fight while in the process of being separated. It caused an overload that seemingly killed the pair. Comet Man When Reed became aware of reports of the hero known as Comet Man, Reed suspected it was his old friend Stephen Beckley. After Comet Man defeated the Hulk in battle, Reed went to see for himself, confirming his suspicions. Reed brought Comet Man back to the Four Freedoms Plaza where he offered to help Beckley because his knowledge on sunspot activity helped save Reed's life two years prior. After learning the origin of Stephen's powers and that his wife and son were prisoners of the Bridge, Reed developed a device to that could channel Comet Man's powers and allow him to teleport to the location of his wife. The process was a success, although Reed was unaware that Stephen's wife had been murdered and buried underground. Reed is referring to when his powers were restored. The time frame between that story and this is an approximation based on the Sliding Timescale Reed and the Thing then recovered Comet Man. After learning from Nick Fury that the head of the bridge, the Superior was Stephen's biological brother, Reed and Ben convinced Stephen to gather up the courage and rescue his son. Devil's Due Not long after this, Reed loaned Doctor Strange a ship so he could venture into space to reclaim his mystical artifacts after they were stolen from him by the alien sorcerer Urthona. Soon the demon Mephisto targeted the Fantastic Four, bringing them and Franklin to his domain. There Mephisto threatened to take Franklin's soul. When Reed tried to bargain his in his son's place, Mephisto tried to convince Reed that he had already made a pact with the devil, which is how the Fantastic Four was born, then stripped Reed of his intellect. This however, was all a ruse to trick the Invisible Woman into turning over her soul to Mephisto in exchange for her husband and friends. With Sue as his prisoner, Mephisto then teleported the rest away, leaving a cryptic clue that the key to Mephisto's defeat was an "unknown quality". Reed then started building a device to try and breach Mephisto's domain. However he realized Mephisto's hint might have been in referenced to the recently formed X-Factor. However when Reed sought X-Factor's help, this all proved to be merely a plot for Mephisto to exchange the Invisible Woman for the soul of Marvel Girl. Suspecting that Mephisto might be after the souls of both mutants and gods, Cyclops of X-Factor advised Reed who then attempted to contact the X-Men, but was also too late to stop Mephisto from attacking them. Ultimately, Mephisto's end-goal, to steal the soul of Thor, was foiled by the Avengers. Johnny and "Alicia's" Wedding With Ben back on the team, and Johnny's impending marriage on the horizon, the Fantastic Four also publicly opened the Four Freedoms Plaza to the public, with Reed and Sue presenting the opening ceremony. After returning to the top floor of their new headquarters, Reed and Sue were surprised to find numerous personal possessions and scientific equipment that was believed to had been lost when the Baxter Building was blown up. After some investigation, Reed and Sue learned that these items were saved from the explosion by their ally the Watcher. Reed and the rest of the team later attended Johnny and "Alicia's" wedding, a private affair that was almost crashed by the Puppet Master, the Wizard and the Mad Thinker. The Puppet Master betrayed his comrades when he heard how happy his "step-daughter" was to be getting married. Reed and Sue were then pulled forward in time to celebrate the 40th wedding anniversary of their Earth-60166 counterparts. Franklin's New Powers Another chance encounter with the Silver Surfer resulted in the Fantastic Four battling the Champion again. When the quartet and the Surfer defeated the Champion, Reed devised a new means for the Surfer to escape the barrier put around the Earth by Galactus. Traveling inside his board, the Surfer was able to finally make his escape. After raising the Thinker's hideout and finding nothing, Reed then began running tests on Franklin's ability to cast a "dream self" whenever he slept. When Franklin was later kidnapped by the Wizard, Reed and the others rescued the boy. Reed then continued his tests on Franklin's abilities, have the boy successfully send out his dream-self to find Johnny who was still on his honeymoon with "Alicia". Putting Franklin to bed that night, both he and Sue expressed concerns about how Ben is coping with Johnny and "Alicia's" marriage. Reed and the rest of the team were later attacked by Dominus and his minions who came to destroy the Time-Platform before members of the West Coast Avengers could ask to use it to save their teammates who were trapped in the past. With the help of the Avengers Henry Pym, Reed managed to repair his time machine and the time lost Avengers were rescued. Johnny soon returned from his honeymoon only for "Alicia" to be kidnapped by the mad Quicksilver. Reed and the others tracked the speedster down to the Bronx where they captured him and rescued "Alicia". It was at this time that Reed and Sue decided that they needed to take a break from the Fantastic Four. Reed then asked Ben to take over leadership of the team. When Crystal came to pick up her husband Quicksilver, he offered her a chance to rejoin the Fantastic Four, much to Johnny's aggravation. War With the X-Men Doctor Doom soon plotted against the Fantastic Four again by planting a forgery of Reed's early diary that suggested that he intentionally mutated his friends and family on the flight that created the Fantastic Four. When Sue found this diary it rocked her entire world and filled Reed with so much grief that he began to doubt himself. Later, the X-Men later came calling to seek Reed's help to save the life of their teammate Shadowcat. Reed agreed to bring his device to Muir Island to try on Shadowcat, but backed out at the last second fearing that the device might kill her. This led to a clash with the X-Men. Eventually, the fight stopped when Doctor Doom offered his expertise and the Fantastic Four returned home. There, Sue was forced to tell the others about the diary, rocking the Fantastic Four down to their core. However, Sue came to believe that Reed couldn't have written the words in the diary after seeing him tell Franklin a story. After soul searching the rest of the Fantastic Four decided to stick by Reed, and Richards himself was confident that he could save Shadowcat after all. When the Fantastic Four ventured out to Latveria, they briefly battled the X-Men, but they agreed to let Richards stand in on Doom's attempt at saving Shadowcat. Watching the experiment, Reed noticed that Doom's calculations were off and worked with him to save Shadowcat's life, foiling Doom's plot to defeat Reed by shaking his confidence in himself. Reed was later caught in a lab fire, necessitating rescue from his teammates. Taking a Break Later, the Fantastic Four were visited by their old foe the Mad Thinker, whose mind appeared to be trapped in the body of the Awesome Android. Reed agreed to help try and restore the Thinker to his body. However, this turned out to be a ploy by the Thinker to transfer his mind into the computers of the Four Freedoms Plaza. But, Reed threatened to destroy the computer if the Mad Thinker didn't vacate them. Fearing for his life, the Thinker didn't call Reed on his bluff and retreated. As Reed and Sue were continuing their transition out of the Fantastic Four, the group was approached by Doctor Doom again who sought the aid of Franklin. When Reed refused, Doom kidnapped the boy in the hopes of offering his soul to Mephisto in exchange for that of his mother. In order to get Franklin back, Reed allowed Kirstoff to escape and lead them into Doom's castle. There a battle broke out between Doom and Kristoff who both laid claim to the Latverian throne as the true Doctor Doom. Reed went after Franklin into Mephisto's realm where his son defeated Mephisto with his mutant powers once again. Back on Earth, Reed had Victor admit he was wrong, this had an unexpected result as it convinced the Doombots that Kristoff was the true Doctor Doom and Victor was chased out of Latveria. In thanks for helping him with the "impostor", Kristoff allowed the Fantastic Four to leave. When Diablo threatened the team again, they were assisted by Ben's ally Ms. Marvel, who was also asked to join the team. With Ms. Marvel and Crystal now on the team, Reed and Sue departed from the team to have some time with their son a normal family setting in Stamford, Connecticut. However, Reed did have Franklin check on the group with his dream-casting powers. After being told the team held their own against Diablo, Reed was satisfied that they would do well under Ben's leadership. Downtime However not long after their departure, Reed briefly returned to the Four Freedoms Plaza to finish an experiment. Reed and Sue later went on a trip, leaving Franklin in the temporary care of the Power family. The couple then tried to ease into a normal family life. Reed attempted to fix some shingles on the roof of their new home, a task he failed miserably. Reed and Sue continued to live a mundane life, even though their home was unknowingly visited by a member of the Grunds. Still, even though they were trying to live a normal life, Reed continued his experiments. His latest invention accidentally brought an alien being to Earth. After a brief battle, the alien -- seeking a world to colonize -- realized Earth was too much trouble and was returned to his home world through the portal. When a power surge awoke one of the Mad Thinker's android duplicates of Sue, Reed contacted Ben at the Four Freedoms Plaza to make sure everything in the basement was secure. Ben and Johnny were then attacked by an alien calling himself the Exile. Reed and Sue returned to the Four Freedoms Plaza where they helped defeat the Exile who then left Earth. Infinity Gems Try as they might, Reed and Sue could not get away from costumed heroics. Not long after the Silver Surfer was freed from his prison, the Elders of the Universe attempted to destroy Galactus and cause a new big bang so they could be the oldest beings in the universe. This plot ended with the Trader, Astronomer, and the Possessor being sucked into a black hole with the Infinity Gems and Galactus consuming the Grandmaster, the Collector, the Champion, the Gardener, and the Runner. The Infinity Gems are called Soul Gems in this story. The term "Infinity Gem" was not coined until Because the Elders could not die, existing inside of Galactus was tearing the world devourer apart. He then sent the Silver Surfer and Nova to seek the aid of Mister Fantastic and the Invisible Woman to help recover the Infinity Gems from the black hole.In particular Sue's invisible force fields could help them collect the Gems without coming into contact with the Soul Gem which steals the soul of all who possess it. Reed and Sue agreed to go, leaving Franklin in the care of Nova. Breaching the black home, Reed, Sue and the Surfer found themselves in a world governed by Master Order and Lord Chaos. The different extremes had an effect on Reed and Sue, while Reed became more ordered, Sue became more chaotic, reverting back to her Malice persona. Tracking down the Trader and Astronomer, Sue betrayed her friends by exchanging the Silver Surfer for the Infinity Gems. Although they were left behind by Sue, Reed was able to convince the two Elders to let the Surfer go free because, as they were in a different dimension, they were not immortal in this realm like they were in their native reality. With no other choice, they let the Surfer go who pursued after Sue with Reed. When they caught up with Sue in their ship a fight broke out. There Reed tried to stop his wife, but came into contact with the Soul Gem and was taken possession of it. However, Reed was merely a pawn for the In-Betweener who sought to claim the Soul Gem for himself. As it turned out the In-Betweener was an ally of the three Elders trapped in this realm to help them escape. Reed and his allies got back to Earth just moments after a failed attempt to kill Galactus at the hands of the In-Betweener. Because the In-Betweener threatened the balance between Lord Order and Master Chaos, Galactus was healed so he could do battle with the In-Betweener. While Galactus and the In-Betweener battled it out, Reed and Sue prevented Franklin from locating and using the Ultimate Nullifier to intervene in the battle. Ultimately, Galactus won, forcing the In-Between back into the realm of his masters where he was punished. With Galactus saved and the Elders and the In-Betweener defeated, the Silver Surfer returned the Richards family to Earth. Inferno During the Inferno crisis, the Captain was seeking out allies to help fight off the demonic hordes that were invading New York. He sought out Reed and Sue, but arrived just moments after Franklin had been kidnapped by Nanny and the Orphan-Maker. When they tracked down Orphan-Maker and Nanny and attacked they were shocked when they discovered that Nanny had placed Franklin in a suit of armor to fight them as well. The battle was then joined by the Eternal known as Gilgamesh. Overpowered the two mutant cyborgs fled, leaving Franklin behind. Before Reed and Sue could free their son from the armor he was placed in, he was kidnapped by N'Astirh, a demon who was collecting mutant children to make his Inferno spell permanent. They tracked Franklin into Manhattan where they crossed paths with Thor who also joined their side. The trail led them to the Empire State Building which served as N'Astirh's base of operations. There this ad-hoc team of Avengers rescued Franklin and also defeated one of Kang's Growing Men. Eventually the Inferno crisis was stopped thanks to the X-Men and X-Factor. Back at the Richards home, the Captain asked Reed and Sue if they would like to join his new team of Avengers. Realizing that they cannot hide from the outside world, they agree to join alongside Gilgamesh and Thor. Although not long after Reed and Sue joined Thor quickly departed to deal with personal matters. Avengers Not long after this, Reed was contacted by Comet Man for help trying to find his brother. Despite his best efforts, Reed could find no trace of Stephen's foe. Reed and Sue later saw Franklin off with the Power family on a vacation to Maine. The couple also made a brief visit to the Four Freedoms Plaza. Back with the Avengers, Reed and Sue accompanied the team as they answered a distress call from their ally Starfox who warned them that the rogue Xandarian known as Super Nova was a threat to the Earth as he searched for Nebula. Attacking Super Nova's ship, they freed the Firelord, but Super Nova broke free from his own ship on a course to destroy the Earth. While Reed and the rest of the Avengers made their way back to Earth, the West Coast Avengers and Quasar kept Super Nova at bay. While the East and West Coast Avengers and the Fantastic Four battled Super-Nova, Reed recovered the Time-Platform from Four Freedoms Plaza with Quasar. They then tricked Super-Nova into thinking that Nebula was somewhere in the time-stream, and send him to it through the Time-Platform. Although Reed was commended for a job well done, Captain America was unhappy that Reed disobeyed orders to carry out his plan. Perchance to Dream Reed and Sue soon found that they were unhappy working with the Avengers and wanted to return to the Fantastic Four. Reed then traveled to the Four Freedoms Plaza to check on the old team and discovered that they needed their help. Johnny's flame had been magnified and made uncontrollable as a side effect of the Inferno crisis. Reed and Sue then returned to their former headquarters so Reed could work on a device to cure Johnny's condition. With the device completed, but the Frightful Four attacked the group. During the fight, Johnny was cured, but Ben was also knocked into the machine and was restored to his human form. Even without the Thing's strength, the Fantastic Four easily trounced the Frighful Four. After a brief interruption by Thor, who was just passing through via the Negative Zone portal, Reed learned that the Wizard had hacked the Four Freedom's computer systems, Reed tracked the signal to the Wizard's hideout. There Reed, Sue, Johnny and Ms. Marvel attacked but they were all felled by Aron the Rogue Watcher who sought the Fantastic Four for his own ends. Worried about his teammates, Ben tracked the Fantastic Four down to the Empire State Building where the Frightful Four and Aron were keeping them contained. Ben helped free the Fantastic Four and another fight broke out. This time the Fantastic Four won. However when they attempted to leave with their foes as prisoners they were felled by Aron again who intended to replace the Fantastic Four with clones of the whole team that would do his bidding. Taking both the Fantastic Four and the Frightful Four as prisoners, Aron hid them away in the Canadian Rocky Mountains where they were kept in suspended animation. While the clones of the Fantastic Four ran amok in the real world, Reed and the others were kept in stasis and subject to vivid dreams. Reed dreamed that the Four Freedoms Plaza was infiltrated by Ultron, leading to the group having to stop it from taking over the building. Eventually a malfunction in the cryogenic devices allowed the Fantastic Four and the Frightful Four to break free. With Aron incapacitated, the battle got even more complicated when the clones returned to their master. However Aron managed to break free as well. With his plan in shambles, Aron banished the Frightful Four to the Vault prison, and teleported away with his clones, satisfied he could watch their dreams to his own amusement, leaving the Fantastic Four behind to clean up the mess created by their impostors. Deciding to return to the Fantastic Four full time, Reed and Sue answered Captain America's call to form a new team of Avengers to announce their resignation from the group. Having moved back into the Four Freedoms, Reed provided Franklin some education on the known universe. =Further Reading= * Mister Fantastic: Year Eight * Return to Expanded History Main Page =Continuity Notes= =References=